Waterfalls and glaciers

It was a rather dismal, drizzly day as we set off from Sellfoss. We had had a lovely stay there at the guesthouse, good food, nice guests and plenty to do in the area. Luckily, every time we stopped today, and we stopped a lot, the rain stopped too so we were able to fully enjoy these fabulous waterfalls. The first, Seljalandsfoss, fed by the glacier from the Eyjafjalljokull icecap, plunged into a pool in an area of lush meadows. If you want to get drenched you can walk behind it, but we preferred the drier option and walked along to several other spectacular, yet smaller falls.

For me, one of the most beautiful aspects of the area were the dozens of bushy, bright yellow buttercup plants adorning the banks of the little brook, even clinging to stones in the middle of the water,

What an area of contrasts it was. It was lovely to not be in the midst of large crowds, as I am sure must be the case in summer.

Not far down the road is yet another fantastic waterfall, Skogafoss. This one is wider than the previous one and possibly more awesome. As you walk up the riverbed towards it, you are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water descending, spraying its fine mist all around . So much power and oh, so beautiful!

Despite the spectacular sight of the falls, it is impossible not to notice nature's smaller treasures, like these plants with their droplets of water on them. So delicate.

As we left, we drove past fields and hillsides covered in purple lupins - a magnificent sight for the tourists, but I guess a curse for the farmers whose land is rapidly being taken over by these flowers. We have the same issues in NZ.

Fortunately, we decided to check out a coastal area just off the Ring Road. Wow, so glad we did! Dyrholaey is a grassy headland with black, volcanic-sand beaches, incredible cliffs and arches, and thousands of sea birds. My dream of seeing puffins was fulfilled,  sadly no photos! It was enough for me just to see these beautiful little birds with their colouful heads and beaks!

We could have spent hours here, but the 322 kilometre journey was taking a very long time thanks to so many spectacular stops! To me, it isn't the destination which really counts , but the journey to it.

With ever changing landscape, the trip passed quickly. Suddenly we found ourselves in a most unusual area, flat but with tiny mounds of volcanic rocks, Laufskalavarda, Laufskala mounds, the history of which dates back to a massive volcanic eruption at the end of the 19 th century. After that, it was considered good luck for everyone passing to place a rock on the top of the mounds. This tradition has simply continued till today and has created a masterpiece of cairns with our first Icelandic glacier sighting behind them.

I thought of NZ as we drew up to the parking lot, with its 4 portaloos. What a brilliant and cheap way of making sure the place stays clean. It was meticulous! NZ should do the same to tackle providing enough toilets for the ever- growing tourist population.

The roads also reminded me of home, kilometres of road with not a soul to be seen! So great to drive here with so much space and so few cars. Perhaps this will change in the high season.

From mounds of lava to more rounded rocks covered in moss. The landscape was suddenly totally different, and there were more impressive waterfalls to be seen. 

These falls were no less dramatic than the ones we had seen in the morning thanks to the majestic backdrop of mountains and the raging rapids.

We approached the end of the journey and the start of the awesome glaciers which descend almost to the sea in places, once more reminiscent of home, but minus the rain forest! Luck was with us, as the sun decided to shine at just the right moment, giving us these first breathtaking views of one of Vatnajokull's many glaciers. Vatnajokull is Europe's largest icecap and is simply spectacular!

Almost there! I read this sign as I left the car park, but Trudi didn't, so she had a huge surprise in store as she walked up and over some glacial moraine 

To see this breathtakingly gorgeous sight

Jokulsarlon, a glacial lagoon, is the deepest lagoon in Iceland and is about 5 km across. It is just fabulous.

The colours of the icebergs were magnificent, standing out even more thanks to the evening sunlight. How lucky we were! What an impressive end to an absolutely wonderful day.